Inflation Muted, Spending Stalls | Radio Balance of Power: Early Edition 8/26/2026

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  August 26, 2026 at 20:24  |  47:53  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
Joe Mathieu — Host, Bloomberg Radio
Liz Pancotti — Economist / Analyst
Charlie Pellett — Anchor/Reporter, Bloomberg
Ophir Falk — Foreign Policy Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Rick Davis — Republican Strategist, Partner at Stonecourt Capital
Patrick McHenry — Congressman, U.S. House of Representatives
Jeanne Sheehan Zaino — Visiting Democracy Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center

Summary

Sticky inflation, soft consumer spending, and pre-Jackson Hole positioning dominate ahead of Nvidia earnings. Liz Pancotti warns that the Iran war, Canada tariffs, and data center buildout are inflationary and support elevated oil, commodity, and memory-chip prices. The political panel discusses data center backlash and Iran sanctions. Patrick McHenry adds that tariffs and Iran are economic headwinds even as AI and reshoring support the U.S. economy.

  • PCE inflation held elevated while consumer spending slowed, reinforcing expectations the Fed will keep rates unchanged.
  • Markets were treading water ahead of Nvidia, Salesforce, and CrowdStrike earnings, with Nvidia seen as the main catalyst.
  • Liz Pancotti says Iran war, Canada tariffs, shelter, and wages are key inflation upside risks.
  • Data center buildout is driving demand for memory chips, aluminum, copper, and other inputs while raising electricity-cost concerns.
  • Ophir Falk supports U.S. economic pressure on Iran and says military options remain on the table.
  • Iran-Oman Straits of Hormuz discussions add geopolitical and oil-supply risk.
  • Patrick McHenry says tariffs and Iran are headwinds to an otherwise strong AI/reshoring/deregulation economy.
  • The political panel highlights data center backlash and midterm/endorsement politics as issues.
Ideas
Joe Mathieu Host, Bloomberg Radio 4:02
Nvidia earnings set market direction.
Nvidia's after-close earnings are seen as the near-term or even longer-term direction-setting event for the broader market, with markets treading water ahead of the report rather than moving decisively.
NVDA MED
Liz Pancotti Economist / Analyst 6:52
Iran war keeps oil prices elevated.
The Iran war has no durable end, so the pressure on oil prices is here to stay, and the effects will flow into plastics, fertilizers, and groceries over the coming year.
WTI HIGH
Liz Pancotti Economist / Analyst 9:25
Data-center demand tightens memory chip supply.
The AI data center buildout is so large that the economy may be heading back into a 2022-23 style chip shortage because there are not enough memory chips to serve consumer electronics, autos, and data centers simultaneously.
DRAM HIGH
Liz Pancotti Economist / Analyst 10:47
Tariffs, war, data centers lift metals.
Data center CapEx, tariffs, and the Iran war are creating supply-chain strain and commodity price pressure, with aluminum and copper specifically cited as markets already in turmoil from these combined demands.
Aluminum COPPER MED
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This Bloomberg Markets video, published August 26, 2026, features Joe Mathieu, Liz Pancotti discussing NVDA, WTI, DRAM, Aluminum, COPPER. 4 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Joe Mathieu, Liz Pancotti  · Tickers: NVDA, WTI, DRAM, Aluminum, COPPER